Decorative grill pin setting machine

ABSTRACT

An automatic pin-setting machine including a plurality of air cylinder operated plungers, a track for individually feeding grill bar retaining pins to the plungers and means reciprocally affixed to the air cylinders to individually drive the pins into the periphery of a wooden sash member in spaced relationship to receive and retain a decorative window grill.

United States Patent 2,540,106 2/1951 Eichelberger 227/152 2.544.499 3/1951 Hovey 227/153 3.056.139 10/1962 Merrick 227/153 UX 3,402,869 9/1968 Otis 227/152 Primary ExaminerGranville Y. Custer, .I r. Allome vKarl L. Spivak ABSTRACT: An automatic pin-setting machine including a plurality of air cylinder operated plungers. a track for individually feeding grill bar retaining pins to the plungers and means reciprocally affixed to the air cylinders to individually drive the pins into the periphery of a wooden sash member in spaced relationship to receive and retain a decorative window grill.

PATENTEDNUV 30 I971 3, 623.648

ORNEY PATENTEUHUV 3o l97l SHEET 2 BF 3 INVENTOR x aw/cfl/Vemfyan aer BYMZW ATTORNEY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the general field of decorative window grills, and more particularly, is directed to an automatic pin-setting machine designed to facilitate the installation of pins for removably securing decorative window grills over glass window panes retained within wooden sash frame members.

In view of the increasing costs involved in the prior art practice of manufacturing four, six or eight individual lights of glass retained within a wooden window frame by employing a plurality of horizontal and vertical mullion bars, it has become increasingly more popular to manufacture window sash having but a single pane of glass affixed within a peripheral wooden or metallic frame. By employing such single pane and an undivided frame construction, all of the millwork formerly associated with the multilight type of window fabrication can thus be eliminated, thereby resulting in substantial production cost savings. In this manner, window manufacturers can now produce and offer for sale at substantially lower prices a sash having but a single light ofglass.

In order to maintain the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the multilight type of sash, and at the same time gain the advantage of production economies made possible by the singlelight type of construction, the use of removable, decorative window bar assemblies has gained increasingly widespread acceptance. Decorative grills constructed of both wood and plastic bars have been employed by prior workers in the field and present trends indicate greatly increased use of such grills in the future. The method of fastening the decorative bars to the window sash has always proved to be a problem and considerable time and effort have been spent by prior workers in the field to design acceptable attaching means. One of the simplest, least expensive and most widely accepted attaching devices for applying decorative window grills to window sash is the collar pin as disclosed in my US. Pat. No. 3,358,412 entitled Window Bar Assembly.

In view of the fact that the removable type of decorative window bar as now in popular use is milled to fixed dimensions and must be installed square in the frame in order to present the desired finished appearance, it is of utmost importance that the sash-affixed grill bar connectors be perfectly positioned to receive the ends of the individual grill bars.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a machine designed to facilitate the positioning and installation of grill-retaining pins in an automatic manner and thus serves to provide an extremely rapid, inexpensive and infallible device for positioning and driving grill-retaining pins. By utilizing the present device, the grill-retaining pins may now be rapidly, positively and automatically positioned at the factory to thereby eliminate all field measurements, handling and other problems.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved pin-positioning machine of the type set forth.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel pin-setting machine that is designed to automatically and rapidly position a plurality of grill-retaining pins about the periphery of a wooden window sash.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel grill pin setting machine that considerably accelerates grill installation procedures by providing positive, accurate, factory-installed pin-driving procedures which may be readily adjusted for use with any size window sash.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel grill pin setting machine that is rugged in construction, simple in design and function and extremely rapid when in use.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the following description and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the invention showing a plurality of pin driving devices arranged about the periphery of a wooden sash positioned to receive a plurality of grill connecting pins.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view ofa pin driving unit in initial position, partially broken away to expose the internal construction.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the initial position of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the pin-driving unit in driving position, partially broken away and partially in section to expose the internal construction in driving position.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along Line 5-5 of FIG. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along Line 6-6 of FIG. 4, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

FIG. 7 is an exploded, enlarged, perspective view showing the anvil and pin track association at the plunger block.

pin-driving unit in the DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of my invention selected for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, I show in FIG. 1, a grill pin setting machine generally designated 10 which includes a frame 12 of structural steel members arranged to form a rectangular work area to receive the pin-driving units 14 and the window sash 16 in operable relation. A pair of driving unit retaining bars 18, 20 are transversely positioned upon the frame 12 in spaced, parallel relationship and are longitudinally adjustable with respect to the frame 12 to vary the distance therebetween to thereby accommodate window sash 16 of varying dimensions. A pair of laterally positioned threaded rods 22, 24 simultaneously turn by means of the handle 26 and the connecting chain 28 and threadedly engage the sprockets at the ends of the rods 22, 24 for space adjustment purposes. A lever valve 30, which may be of either the foot-operated or hand-operated type, introduces compressed air from any suitable source (not shown) to the machine air piping 32 and thence to the individual pin driving units 14 through flexible pneumatic hoses 34. It should be noted that upon operation of the valve 30, compressed air feeds simultaneously through the air piping 32 and air hoses 34 to each pin driving unit 14 for simultaneous operation thereof.

Each pin driving unit 14 individually is positioned upon the retaining bars 18 or 20 by engagement of the bottom connecting flanges 36,38 which may be tightened thereon in any wellknown manner such as by set screws 37, 39. Each pin-driving unit 14 positions upon the bars 18, 20 in alignment with the ends of the grill bars (not shown) of the decorative window grill to be removably positioned upon the sash 16. In this manner, sufficient grill-retaining pins will be simultaneously driven into the sash to thereby receive and retain the decorative window grill (not shown) after the sash is installed during the building construction process. In accordance with usual practice, it will be appreciated that more or fewer pin-driving units 14 than herein illustrated may be utilized depending upon the type of grill bar to be employed and also upon the size of the sash itself. Similarly, lateral pin-driving units 40 are adjustably positioned upon the central bar 42 to thereby affix pins into the sides 44 of the sash 16.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, I show a pin-driving unit 14 in the rest position prior to the initiation of the pin driving cycle. Each pin-driving unit 14 includes a stationary base 48 from which the connecting flanges 36, 38 bottomly project for clamping engagement upon the retaining bars 18, 20. A carriage reciprocates upon the base 48 in response to air pressure introduced into the air piping and hose systems 32, 34 through the air valve 30. The carriage includes a pair of spaced side anns S2, S4 fixed above the top of the base 48 by attachment at one end thereof to an adjustable block 56 and at the other end thereof to a pressure block 58. The base 48 has an upturned, transverse flange 60 which axially carries the guide rod 62 in spaced relation above the top of the base. The adjustable block 56 is drilled to provide a bottom opening 64 which is sized to overfit the guide rod 62 with just sufficient clearance to permit unrestricted reciprocating action upon the guide rod 62.

Air cylinder 66 lies between the side arms 52, 54 and is carried between forward and rearward supporting blocks 68, 70 which slide upon the base 48. A piston 72 reciprocates within the air cylinder 66 from the rest position of FIG. 2 and the driven position as indicated in FIG. 4. A compression spring 76 extends between the interior surface of the terminal block 70 and the piston 72 returns the piston to rest position upon completion of each pin-driving cycle.

The piston 72 axially carries a threaded stud 78 which extends rearwardly through an aligned opening 80 in the block 70 and is adjustably clamped to block 56 by nuts 82, 84. An air conduit 86 leads from the interior of the cylinder 66 to the fitting 88 which may be threadedly engaged in the forward block 68 at the terminus of the conduit 86 to thereby provide a convenient and sturdy connection for the air cock 90 and its associated hose 34.

A plunger block 92 is fixed to the top of the base 48 by utilizing a plurality of threaded bolts 94 which upwardly project through the base 48. Three vertically aligned openings 96, 98, are formed in block 92 through the forward face 102 thereof. The pressure block 58 carries the aligned, rearwardly projecting rods 104, 106, 108 which align respectively with the plunger block openings 96, 98, 100 for reciprocating motion therein. The upper rod 104 axially carries the rearwardly extending plunger 110 and reciprocates the plunger within the block plunger opening 112 for pin driving purposes as hereinafter more fully set forth. A compression spring 114 overfits the middle rod 106 and extends between the rearward face 116 of the pressure block 58 and the bottom of the middle block opening 98 and serves to reduce shock on the plunger block 92 upon each cyclical movement of the carriage 50. The lowest rod 108 slides within the lowest aligned opening 100 provided in the block 92 and serves as a guide to assure accurate, aligned movement of the plunger 110 within its aligned plunger opening 112.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, it will be observed that the plunger block 92 rearwardly carries an anvil stop 118 which positions its abutment 120 to exactly align the inner most pin 122 directly in front of the plunger opening 112 for pin-driving engagement upon cyclical operation of the carriage 50. The anvil stop 118 is generally T-shaped in cross section having a horizontal head 124 spaced above the receiving platform 126 a distance sufficient to engage the pin slot 128 which longitudinally extends along the entire pin track 130. The track 130 serves to feed the pins 132 to the abutment 120 to thereby individually align each pin with the plunger 110 for each pin-driving cycle.

As may be best seen in FIG. 7, the pin slot 128 terminates downwardly in a pair of inwardly facing flanges 134, 136 which engage under the head 124 of the T-shaped anvil stop 118 to thereby removably engage the pin track 130 in pinpositioning relation to the plunger 110. The pin track sides 138, 140 are drilled to provide plunger aligned openings 142, 144 to respectively permit passage of the plunger 110 and the innermost pin 122 during the pin-driving operation.

A length of spring steel 146 coils about the barrel 148 which is spring biased by the torsion spring 150 acting along the barrel shaft 152 in conventional manner. The spring steel length 146 is fixed at one end thereof to the barrel 148 and terminates outwardly in a shouldered follower 154 which is formed to fit within the pin slot 128 of the pin track 130 in sliding engagement therein. The torsion spring 150 serves to tension the barrel 148 to thereby tend to wind the spring steel length 146 thereon by pulling the shouldered follower 154 inwardly along the slot 128 of the pin track 130. The track 130 is provided with an upwardly positioned, longitudinally extending trough 156 in communication with the top of the pin slot 128 to thereby provide sufficient space above the top of the pins 132 to receive the spring steel length 146.

In order to use my invention, the pin-driving units 14 are positioned upon the driving unit retaining bars 18, 20 in alignment with the ends of the decorative grill bar (not shown) to thereby properly position the pins 132 for grill bar retaining purposes. The retaining bars 18, 20 may be adjusted as required by utilizing the threaded adjusting rods 22, 24 to ac commodate the size of the sash 16 being treated. The bottom connecting flanges 36, 38 affixed to the retaining bars 18, 20, secure the pin-driving units 14 in the desired position. The threaded stud 78 and the nuts 82, 84 adjust the position of the air cylinder 66 and the forward block 68 with respect to the plunger block 92 to receive the window sash construction 16 in the space 158 thereby provided. The space 158 between the plunger block 92 and the forward cylinder block 68 should be sufficient to loosely receive the sash 16 therein to thereby permit easy insertion and removal of the sash within the space 158 of all of the previously positioned pin-driving units 14. In this manner, a worker may readily insert and remove window sash 16 for the pin-driving operation.

It will be observed in FIGS. 2 and 4 that as air is introduced to the interior of the cylinder 66 through the hose 34, forces will act equally in all directions within the interior of the cylinder. Inasmuch as the forward block 68 abuts the window sash l6, forward relative motion of the block 68 with respect to the base 48 is therefore impossible. Accordingly, the piston 72 thereby drives the threaded stud 78 rearwardly. The stud 78 adjustably afiixed to the adjustable block 56 forces the adjustable block 56 rearwardly upon application of air pressure within the cylinder 66. The block 56 forms an integral portion of the carriage 50 and therefore, the carriage is urged rearwardly upon pressurizing the air cylinder 66. As observed in FIGS. 2 and 4, the plunger 110 connected to the pressure block 58 also forms a portion of the carriage 50. Accordingly, when the carriage reciprocates from the rest position as illus trated in FIGS. 2 and 3 to the driven position as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the plunger 110 is forced rearwardly through the block plunger opening 112 and the aligned pin track opening 142.

A plurality of pins 132 are positioned within the pin slot 128 with the pointed ends 160 thereof facing rearwardly towards the sash 116. The spring steel member 146 is positioned within the trough 156 and the follower 154 is positioned within the pin slot 128 rearwardly of the pins 132. The spring member 146 winds about the barrel 148 under urging of the torsion spring 150 and serves to pull the pins 132 toward the anvil stop 118 until the innermost pin 122 is positioned against the abutment 120 in exact alignment with the plunger 110. Thus, when the carriage S0 is rearwardly urged by air pressure within the cylinder 66, the plunger 110 rearwardly glides through the plunger opening 112 and the track-aligned opening 142 to contact the head of the innermost pin 122 and drives the pin rearwardly into the sash 16. See FIGS. 4 and 5. Upon return of the carriage 50 to the rest position of FIGS. 2 and 3, the plunger 110 forwardly moves within the plunger opening 112 and clears the position immediately in front of the anvil abutment 120. The follower moves 154 then the next pin into position against the abutment 120 to thus load the pin-driving unit 14 for the next pin-driving operation.

It will be appreciated that an operator (not shown) must be continuously present at the pin-setting machine 10 to perform the functions of positioning the sash 16 within the spaces 158 prior to the pin-driving operation. With the sash positioned as in FIG. 1, the operator then trips the lever valve 30 to introduce air pressure forces within the cylinders 66 of the pindriving units 14. All of the pin-driving units 14 function in unison to simultaneously drive the innermost pins 122 into the window sash 16. The springs 76 return the pin-driving units 14 to the rest position upon release of the air pressure forces and the operator may then remove the sash 16 with the plurality of 5 affixed grill-retaining pins 132. The machine the next pin setting operation. It is the usual practice to adjust the plunger position to drive each pin 132 into the window sash 16 a distance sufiicient to permit approximately oneeighth inch of the pin to extend beyond the surface of the sash construction to thereby provide sufficient exposed pin construction to adequately retain the decorative grill.

lclaim:

1. in a decorative grill pin setting machine for positioning grill bar retaining pins about the periphery ofa wooden sash, the combination of A. a stationary base;

B. a plunger block afi'ixed to the said base and including a first work clamping means,

I. said plunger block having a longitudinally aligned plunger opening;

C. a carriage movable upon the base and carrying a cylinder with a piston reciprocal therein,

1. said cylinder carrying a second work clamp means in spaced position from the first work clamp means,

2. said carriage carrying pin-driving means and reciprocating the pin-driving means within the said plunger opening from a rest position to a driven positron,

is then ready for 3. said piston reciprocating within the cylinder from a rest position to a drive position, a. said piston supporting a piston stud extending exteriorly of the cylinder,

1. said piston stud actuating the carriage when in the driven position to move the second work clamp means into clamping position with respect to the said sash and simultaneously actuating the pindriving means to the driven position.

2. The invention of claim 1 and spring means positioned within the cylinder urging the piston to the said rest position.

3. The invention of claim 1 and automatic pin-feeding means directing pins successively into alignment with the plunger opening when the piston reciprocates to its said rest position.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the automatic pin-feeding means include a track carrying a plurality of pins in sideby-side relation and wherein the plunger block carries an anvil stop positioned at one terminus of the track to align the end pin directly in front ofthe plunger opening.

5. The invention of claim 4 and spring biased pin feed means operable within the track to urge the pins toward the anvil stop.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein the pin feed means include a follower which rides within the track and contacts the pin positioned furthest from the anvil stop.

7. The invention of claim 1 and adjusting means to vary the spacing between the first and second work clamp means. 

1. In a decorative grill pin setting machine for positioning grill bar retaining pins about the periphery of a wooden sash, the combination of A. a stationary base; B. a plunger block affixed to the said base and including a first work clamping means,
 1. said plunger block having a longitudinally aligned plunger opening; C. a carriage movable upon the base and carrying a cylinder with a piston reciprocal therein,
 1. said cylinder carrying a second work clamp means in spaced position from the first work clamp means,
 2. said carriage carrying pin-driving means and reciprocating the pin-driving means within the said plunger opening from a rest position to a driven position,
 3. said piston reciprocating within the cylinder from a rest position to a drive position, a. said piston supporting a piston stud extending exteriorly of the cylinder,
 1. said piston stud actuating the carriage when in the driven position to move the second work clamp means into clamping position with respect to the said sash and simultaneously actuating the pin-driving means to the driven position.
 2. said carriage carrying pin-driving means and reciprocating the pin-driving means within the said plunger opening from a rest position to a driven position,
 2. The invention of claim 1 and spring means positioned within the cylinder urging the piston to the said rest position.
 3. The invention of claim 1 and automatic pin-feeding means directing pins successively into alignment with the plunger opening when the piston reciprocates to its said rest position.
 3. said piston reciprocating within the cylinder from a rest position to a drive position, a. said piston supporting a piston stud extending exteriorly of the cylinder,
 4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the automatic pin-feeding means include a track carrying a plurality of pins in side-by-side relation and wherein the plunger block carries an anvil stop positioned at one terminus of the track to align the end pin directly in front of the plunger opening.
 5. The invention of claIm 4 and spring biased pin feed means operable within the track to urge the pins toward the anvil stop.
 6. The invention of claim 5 wherein the pin feed means include a follower which rides within the track and contacts the pin positioned furthest from the anvil stop.
 7. The invention of claim 1 and adjusting means to vary the spacing between the first and second work clamp means. 